Aug 13 At least 3 dead and thousands displaced as wildfires rage across southern Europe By Derek Gatopoulos, Llazar Semini, Associated Press Thinly-stretched crews are fighting to contain blazes after weeks of searing heat. Continue reading
Aug 12 Alaskan glacier ice dam releases floodwater toward downstream homes By Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press A huge basin of rainwater and snowmelt dammed by Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier has started to release, and officials on Tuesday urged residents in some parts of Juneau to evacuate ahead of what could be a record surge of floodwater downstream. Continue reading
Aug 12 Groups seek to influence plastic pollution treaty talks at the UN as negotiations wind down By Jennifer McDermott, Associated Press The biggest issue at the talks is whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focus instead on things like better design, recycling and reuse. Continue reading
Aug 12 Millions face record heat in Europe as wildfires prompt evacuations By Suman Naishadham, Associated Press Europe is warming faster than any other continent, at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s. Continue reading
Aug 11 Why Niger is investigating the $5 million sale of the largest Mars rock found on Earth By Mark Banchereau, Associated Press A 54-pound meteorite from Mars has sold for over $5 million at a New York auction, setting a world record. But officials in Niger, where the meteorite was found, suspect it may have been smuggled out of the West African… Continue reading
Aug 11 The Perseids will peak this week, but a bright moon will make the meteor shower harder to see By Christina Larson, Associated Press Under ideal viewing conditions with no moon, the shower can produce more than 60 meteors per hour - but moonlight will interfere this year. Continue reading
Aug 11 A heatwave scorches parts of Europe and fans wildfire threat in southern France By Thomas Adamson, Associated Press Scientists say Europe is becoming the world's fastest-warming continent. Continue reading
Aug 10 Toxicologist explains how poison ivy and bee stings are nature’s chemical weapons By Christopher P. Holstege, Sandra H. Nixon, The Conversation Poison ivy and bees stings are among the most common outdoor menaces for people enjoying the outdoors. Continue reading
Aug 09 New study shows how climate change is driving wildfire season to start earlier in California By Gavin D. Madakumbura, Alex Hall, The Conversation Parts of California are seeing fire season start more than 10 weeks earlier now than in the 1990s. Two authors of a new study explain how climate warming has been driving this trend and why it's likely to continue. Continue reading
Aug 09 Watch 4:48 New study highlights ‘grave, growing’ danger of plastic pollution to world’s health By John Yang, Lorna Baldwin, Kaisha Young In Geneva, negotiators from 175 nations are trying to hammer out the first-ever legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. The urgency of the talks was underscored this week by a new study published in The Lancet. It calls plastics a… Continue watching